Pakistan

The Sidebar: In the Trenches of Modern Warfare

June 15, 2012
Peter Bergen discusses the Obama Administration's covert drone war in Yemen, White House information leaks, and the president's kill list. Evgeny Morozov explores the peaceful side of cyber warfare and the American cyber attacks on Iran. Elizabeth Weingarten Hosts.

And Now, Only One Senior al Qaeda Leader Left

  • By
  • Peter Bergen,
  • New America Foundation
June 6, 2012 |

The news that Abu Yahya al-Libi, the No.2 leader of al Qaeda, is now confirmed to have been killed in a CIA drone strike in Pakistan's tribal region along the border with Afghanistan further underlines that the terrorist group that launched the 9/11 attacks is now more or less out of business.

Under President Barack Obama, CIA drone strikes have killed 15 of the most important players in al Qaeda, according to a count maintained by the New America Foundation (a nonpartisan think tank where I am a director).

The Sidebar: Two Global Conferences

May 24, 2012
The implications of two global summits, the NATO Conference in Chicago and the Iranian nuclear talks in Baghdad are explored this week as Jennifer Rowland and Tom Kutsch join host Elizabeth Weingarten.

A Visit to Osama bin Laden's Lair

  • By
  • Peter Bergen,
  • New America Foundation
May 3, 2012 |

We climbed the stairs to the third floor, where Osama bin Laden died early in the morning of May 2, 2011. I stepped into the bedroom where he was killed and looked up at the ceiling, where you could still see the patterns of blood that had spurted from bin Laden's head when the bullet fired by a U.S. Navy SEAL tore through the terrorist leader's face.

The height of the room was low for someone as tall as bin Laden, who was 6 foot 4.

Barack Obama Killed Osama Bin Laden. Period.

  • By
  • Fred Kaplan,
  • New America Foundation
May 1, 2012 |

The Republicans have glommed on to a neat rhetorical trick: When Barack Obama does something indisputably admirable or effective, simply pretend that he had nothing to do with it.

This ploy was first trotted out in the aftermath of Moamar Qaddafi’s downfall in Libya, when Obama’s former presidential rival, Sen. John McCain, gave all the credit to the French.

The Last Days of Osama bin Laden

  • By
  • Peter Bergen,
  • New America Foundation
April 26, 2012 |

Early on the morning of May 2, 2011, the residents of Osama bin Laden's heavily fortified compound were startled awake by the sound of explosions. Bin Laden's daughter Maryam, 20, rushed upstairs to his top-floor bedroom to ask what was going on. "Go downstairs and go back to bed," he told her. Then bin Laden told his wife Amal, "Don't turn on the light."

Fighting the Great Firewall of Pakistan

  • By
  • Rebecca MacKinnon,
  • New America Foundation
April 10, 2012 |

It takes a strong stomach and a thick skin to be a female activist fighting online censorship in Pakistan. Sana Saleem has both.

The 24-year-old founder of a Karachi-based free expression group Bolo Bhi has been accused of supporting "blasphemy." On Twitter, a chilling message made the rounds last month: "this @sanasaleem is a prostitute who feature in porn movies #throwacidonsana." Her photo was posted in pornography forums.

Manhunt

May 1, 2012

The gripping account of the decade-long hunt for the world's most wanted man.

Where do Mobile Solutions make the most sense?

  • By
  • Vishnu Sridharan
April 10, 2012
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/3739520725/

The UNDP’s recently released report, “Mobile Technologies and Empowerment: Enhancing human development through participation and innovation,” is exceptional for straddling the gap between tech hype and tech reality while providing direction as to how best to advance development goals. The report also serves as a perfect complement to the Global Savings and Social Protection initiative’s recent work on payment infrastructure and infrastructure utilization in showing (among other things) that different contexts demand different technical interventions.

What Does Pakistan Want?

  • By
  • Steve Coll,
  • New America Foundation
March 29, 2012 |

“I think it’s important for us to get it right,” President Obama said on Tuesday of the American relationship with Pakistan. Lately, though, we haven’t. After 2009, the United States and Pakistan constructed what they called a “strategic dialogue”—addressing Pakistan’s needs for economic growth, its search for energy and water security, Afghanistan, and possible negotiations with the Taliban—to define and solidify a long-term partnership.

Syndicate content